Welding wire for electric arc welding is typically provided in a box or drum referred to as a payout drum package. The wire sits in the drum package, for example, coiled on a reel or spool and is referred to as the wire stack. A cover is attached to the drum package having a conduit attached to the cover. The wire is pulled through the conduit by a wire feeder of the welding machine and is used as an electrode in electric arc welding, for example. The term “pay off” is used in the wire industry and means pulling the wire out of the drum/box package or off the reel/spool.
When a welding wire is withdrawn or payed off from a welding wire stack residing in a payout drum package during an electric arc welding operation, for example, the spirals of the welding wire may tend to flip causing cork screws which result in tangling of the wire. Also, the stack may move within the drum with respect to the opening in the cover where the conduit is attached. Such movement of the wire stack with respect to the conduit may change the tension on the wire causing poor wire feedability and preventing smooth pay off. Such unwanted occurrences can reduce, if not totally destroy, welding effectiveness.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems and methods with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.